Louise Bellavance
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Louise Bellavance | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1943 (age 81–82) |
| Education | Masters of social work |
| Alma mater | Université Laval |
Sister Louise Bellavance CM CQ (born 1943)[1] is a Québécoise social worker particularly known for her service to disadvantaged people with hearing disabilities.[2] She is a nun of the Sisters of Charity of Quebec.[3]
Sister Louise Bellavance was responsible for living units at the Mont-d'Youville Visitor Centre in Quebec City and the Mgr Courchesne Institute in Rimouski from 1963 to 1974. She then began as a psychosocial worker for the Social Services Centre of Quebec, working with children and deaf adults. Bellavance graduated from the Université de Sherbrooke with a bachelor's degree in social work in 1979.[1]
In 1979 Bellavance helped found the Charlesbourg Institute of the Deaf and also Handi A (now Centre Signes d'Espoir), the only community centre in Quebec for deaf adults with disabilities. In 1986 she founded Auberge des Sourds, a home for deaf people with multiple disabilities.[1] These organizations seek to impart life skills and help people integrate into their communities,[2] understanding the isolation and rejection experienced due to communication difficulties.[4] She helped found the Regional Interpretation Service of Eastern Quebec in 1988 and a second home for deaf people in 2002. To help fund these projects she wrote the book Des gestes pour le dire (1995) and helped set up the Signes d'Espoir Foundation.[1]
In 1991 Bellavance completed a master's degree in social work from Université Laval. She is chair of the board of directors of Handi A and was vice-chair of the board of directors of the Foundation of the Deaf of Quebec.[1]
Bellavance was made a member of the Order of Canada in 2000[2] and a Chevalière of the Ordre national du Québec in 2005.[1]
Publications
- Des gestes pour le dire (in French). Éditions Anne Sigier. 1995.